It may have only been a restricted benchmark race, but as wins go, Royal Celebrations victory at Randwick was particularly satisfying for his trainer Ron Quinton.
The three-year-old colt was sent out the $2.50 favourite yesterday in the Membership Handicap (1400m) after three frustrating seconds at his past three starts.
Flushed with success: Royal Celebration wins yesterday.Credit:AAP
Royal Celebrations run of seconds began in May when he was beaten by The Autumn Sun, who has gone on to win three group 1 races, most recently the Caulfield Guineas. This campaign, Royal Celebration has finished behind stakes performers Gem Song and Yulong January in his two starts before yesterday.
Its lovely to win with him because sometimes when they run all those seconds they continue to do it, Quinton said. Its nice after the previous couple of runs when hes run into some good ones.
Ridden by Andrew Adkins, Royal Celebration held off Evalina ($4) by one-and-a-quarter lengths, with Nicco Lad ($4.60) another two-and-a-half lengths away.
Punters were spot-on in their assessment, with the seven runners finishing in market order.
After a 30-year career as a jockey that brought many group 1 wins and eight Sydney premierships, Quinton began a new phase as a trainer in the 1990s.
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His first horse of note was Mamzelle Pedrille, who won 11 races between 1994 and 1997.
Royal Celebration has the same owners, the Gall family, who owned Mamzelle Pedrille, Quinton said.
She was the first yearling in my stable when I started, so its good to see this horse win for them.
Quinton is not sure where he will go next with the Royal Celebration.
